1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pressure-sensitive adhesive component for an ankle and to a method for using it. More particularly, the present invention relates to a pressure-sensitive adhesive component used for fixing ankle joints and the like in the fields of medicine, sports, chiropractic and so on and to a method for using such a pressure-sensitive adhesive component.
2. Description of Related Art
An ankle is a portion of a body that supports the body and thus is loaded with the body weight and that tends to suffer a sprained ankle in porting, daily life and so on. Since the ankle is closely involved in walking, a pain in the ankle makes daily motion difficult. Accordingly, there has been a keen desire for a countermeasure to alleviate the pain that occurs in the ankle. For example, a treatment to fix the ankle joint and the like has been performed.
A method for fixing the ankle joint and the like without requiring expert knowledge includes a method of attaching a supporter around an ankle disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-24055. The supporter has a shin pad formed to have a large thickness and use of the pad results in thickening of the ankle so that one cannot wear shoes or the like when he or she has attached the shin pad around the ankle. This is inconvenient to daily life motions. Further, a supporter for a foot joint made of an elastic tape-shaped body, including an anchor strap that winds up around an ankle, a figure eight strap that winds up around a dorsum of the foot and a sole of the foot in the form of a figure eight (8), and a stirrup strap that winds up around the foot from a medial malleolus to a lateral malleolus through the sole is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-248865. The supporter loosens with a lapse of time, thus failing to fix the ankle joint and the like sufficiently.
Fixing or otherwise restricting the movement of an ankle joint by using a pressure-sensitive adhesive tape in order to alleviate the pain of the ankle (taping) is a conventional treatment performed in the fields of sports and medicine. Appropriate taping can sufficiently fix the ankle to alleviate the pain of the ankle and will not reduce the ability of the ankle and the like to move. However, the conventional treatment has the defect that appropriate taping cannot be readily performed since expert knowledge is required for performing such taping. Also, it has the problem that taping by spirally winding a pressure-sensitive adhesive tape around an ankle in an overlapping manner tends to cause local circulation disturbance and nervous disturbance due to over constriction.